The South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Keep Public's Business Public

A year ago, after Florida's first "Sunshine Sunday" came "Stormy Monday." It shouldn't happen again.

Today, on the second annual observance of Sunshine Sunday, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel joins more than two dozen other Florida newspapers in publishing editorials uniting their voices to protect Florida's vital policy of "Government in the Sunshine" from political attack. It's a "media conspiracy" of which we are proud to be a part.

The sunshine policy, enshrined both in Florida's Constitution and in state law, requires most meetings of government agencies and most official government records to be open to the public.

Every year, however, some misguided legislators pass unjustified laws granting exemptions to governmental openness. In 2002, on the "Stormy Monday" a day after the editorials appeared, a state Senate committee thumbed its nose at open government and the editorials by sending 15 exemptions bills to the Senate floor. That year, a record 150 exemption bills were filed. Fortunately, most failed.

Once again this year, lawmakers are working overtime to shut the public out, with more than two dozen new public records exemptions bills filed. Fortunately, Florida voters erected a roadblock against anti-sunshine measures. A 2002 state amendment requires two-thirds of lawmakers to vote to pass any new exemptions.

One of the worst new bills (SB 76) comes from Sen. Skip Campbell, D-Tamarac. It would block the public from seeing vital public records about adverse incidents that harm patients because of pharmacists who prescribe improper medicine. It would lock up such records until after a finding of probable cause of wrongdoing by the Department of Health.

SB 274 lets the Agency for Health Care Administration keep secret records of other adverse incidents in hospitals that harm patients. Among information the public could not get would be the names of the hospital, the person reporting the incident, the patient, doctors or nurses involved, any detailsof the incident and actions taken to implement an investigation. Such "adverse incident" reports have become a major tool to force a crackdown on bad pharmacists, doctors, nurses and hospital officials. The reports have been used by Sun-Sentinel reporters and others to disclose harmful medical care practices.

Senate Bill 238 says Ethics Commission complaints against public officials must be secret until the commission decides either to dismiss the complaint or finds probable cause to proceed.

SB 304 lets public utility companies keep secret all information about customers. Newspapers previously used this information to disclose high-profile residents who either used large amounts of water or were delinquent in paying bills for water, sewage treatment, natural gas, electricity, cable TV or other utility services.

Stealthy lawmakers trying to sneak bills in under the radar of Floridians have filed a batch of "shell" bills. These measures have no details yet about what they might contain, but just a title indicating they deal with public records exemptions. The concern is that details will be filled in at the last minute, with little opportunity for debate or public scrutiny.

Fortunately, not all public records bills are bad.

SB 1072 would make it a second-degree felony to use someone else's personal identifying information, such as a Social Security or driver's license number, if the value of injury or fraud is more than $5,000, instead of the current level of $75,000.

House Bill 3 establishes a Citizen's Right to Honest Government. Among other things, it bans public officials from: Falsifying, concealing, destroying, mutilating or altering any offical document. Obstructing, delaying or preventing the communication of information relating to a felony directly involving that official or government agency.

Sunshine Sunday is being sponsored by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, of which the Sun-Sentinel is a member. The 2002 event won a deserved "Sunshine Award" from the Society of Professional Journalists. Other groups supporting the project are the First Amendment Foundation and the Florida Press Association. This year, the program is being expanded from just daily newspapers to weekly papers and radio and TV broadcast stations. The message we are sending is simple: Government in the Sunshine offers something for everyone in Florida, and urgently needs to be protected against clouds of official secrecy.

Sick people use sunshine laws to check out if a doctor has been sued for malpractice or filed state adverse incident reports saying a patient was killed or injured in error.

Private investigators used public records to track down deadbeat parents and find stolen property.

People wanting to locate a good nursing home for an aging family member use open records to see which homes have good inspection reports.

School boards use open records to check whether a teaching applicant has been a child abuser.

Business owners use open records to see if job applciants have been convicted of crimes, sued for wrongdoing in civil courts or disciplined for professional misconduct.

People wanting to buy or sell their homes use open records to check out appraised values of similar properties, utility costs, crime rates and school attendance zones.

Government watchdogs and investigative reporters use open records to uncover government misconduct and waste.

People who believe they were victimized by police brutality can use open records to find out if an officer has a pattern of similar complaints filed against him.

Voters use open records to check out conflicts of interest between politicians' voting records, promises and campaign contributors.

And everyone can use open records to become better-informed citizens, watch how tax dollars are raised and spent, and hold public officials accountable for their performance.

WHAT TO DO

To read other Sunshine Sunday editorials, check the Web site of the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, www.fsne.org

To read the text of bills, check the Legislature's Web site, www.state.fl.us